Stevens Guilty on All Counts

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has been found guilty on felony charges in his corruption trial, concluding a multiple-year investigation and prosecution of the Alaska political icon.

Stevens, 82, is the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate, having taken office in December of 1968.

The verdict comes just over a week before a hotly-contested reelection bid by Stevens against Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D), who had been locked in a virtual dead heat against the Alaska icon.

Polls showed Begich leading by a wider margin after Stevens’s initial indictment this summer. Stevens had engaged in the politically risky strategy of pushing for a trial and verdict before Election Day.

–Michael O’Brien